Reclining chair



Aug..17, 1937. DjsALTMAN l REGLINING CHAIR Filed July 1e, 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet 1v all/VIVENTOR A A T ORNEY,

Aug. 17, 1937. D. sALTMAN 2,090,311

v RECLINI'NG CHAIR Filed July 1e, 1955 2 sheets-sheet 2 BYgadL-Ja I l -:L' www* l hATTORNEY.

Patented Aug. 17, 1937 PATENT UFFICE RECLINING CHAIR David Saltman,

Application July 16,

4 Claims.

This invention relates to reclining chairs and in which the back of the chair may be moved rearwardly or forwardly, so as to vary the inclination thereof.

A main object of my invention in a reclining Ichair of the type in which the seat remains stationary andthe back tilts from a more or less upright to a decidedly inclined position, is to provide arms or arm rests which move with 10 the 'back but are always maintained in the same plane. These arms or arm rests may be parallel to the seat or inclined 'thereto and have a sliding motion in. a rectilinear direction on rail-s which are fixed in regard to the seat, the l seat being preferably inclined slightly downwardly at the back end in reference to the horizontal.

Another detailed object and feature of my invention in order to develop the rectilinear sliding movement ofthe arms, that is the arm rest portion on which a -person may rest his arms, is in having a pivotal connection of the back to the seat frame, and also having a pivotal connection lof the -rear ends of the arms to the 1back, and in which one of these pivotal connections has a loose or sliding t by means of a pin and slot.

In one form of my invention the lower ends of the back have a pin and slot connection to the 'supporting frame of the chair on which the seat iis mounted, and the rear ends vof the arms are pivoted to `the lback by a direct pivot. In this -construction, for instance, as the seat back is` moved from an upright to a decidedly rear- '35 wardly -tilted position, the lower ends of the back'rise upwardly, this movement being free -on account of the pivot and slot connection between the lower end of the back and the frame. In 'another form of the construction the back lis-connected -by direct pivot to the frame of a chair and the 'arm vrests and back have a pivot and slot `connection in which the slot is in the back and a -pin on the arms engages-in the slot. Therefore, as the back is tilted from va more or 45less upright Yto a rearwardly inclined position, the pins Aon the rear ends of the arms move upwardly in the slot. Therefore, by having some means for clamping the arm or arm rests to rails or Vthe like secured to the frame, a person 50 sitting in the vchair may adjust the inclination of vtheloack between an upright or an inclined position, vor vice versa without getting up from l lthe chair. Another object is to provide a novel reclining `chair in which the back may be easily 55 and quickly collapsed so that fthe chair may be Los Angeles, Calif.

1935, Serial No. 31,631

assembledV in a very compact condition vfor shipping purposes.

Another detail object and feature of my invention resides in the connectionl oi the rectilinear slidable arms to the frame of the chair. In one 'form the frame has rails inclined to the :hori- Zontal with a longitudinal slot ltherethrough, the rails preferably having a tongue and groove connection Vwith the arms, and a bolt extending 'through the arms and through the slot and having ahead on the bolt vbelow the rails allows a person sitting in the chair to clamp the arms, and hence the back, in a desired position.

In another form a rack ybaris supported on each side of the chair, being rigidly connected to the main frame. Each bar has the rack teeth on its edge, and the arms are each provided with a groove to slide on this rack bar, and a pawl is slidably arranged on each arm and on the under side to engage the teeth of the xed rack, the pawl being preferably `in a transverse groove l'on the under side of the arms, and therefore hidden from View, but still .allowing lthe person sitting inthe chair to manipulate the pawl by means of a finger button.

A still further object is to provide a novel chair in `which the inclination Aof the bac-k may be easily and quickly varied by -a person while seated in the chair.

Other objects, advantages and features of invention `may appear from the accompanying drawings, the subjoined detail description and the appended claims. n

The accompanying drawings illustrate the chair frame in some of the forms I at present deem preferable.

Figure 1 is a side elevational view-of a chair embodying my invention. Parts are broken away to disclose the interior construction. Dotted lines indicate cushions that may be used in conjunction with the chair frame; and dot and dash lines indicate the chair back moved to its forward position.

Fig.' 2 is a fragmentary front elevational View lof the chair looking from the left toward the right of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged transverse sectional View on line 3 3, Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view taken on line 4 4, Fig. 1.

Fig. 5 is a top fragmentary plan view of the chair arms and back associated therewith.

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary view showing a modified form of connection between the arm and the back and between the back and the seat frame.

Fig. 7 is a side elevational view partly in section, showing a modied form of means to secure the back in inclined position.

Fig. 8 is an enlarged fragmentary plan view looking at the underside of the arm shown in Fig. '7. Dotted lines indicate a moved position of the arm relative to the arm support.

Fig. 9 is a transverse sectional view taken on line 9-9, Fig. 8.

Referring to the form of my invention shown in Figures 1 to 5, inclusive, of the drawings, vI show a supporting frame A for the chair seat which comprises front and rear legs I and I I connected by side braces I2. The front legs are braced by a cross piece I3 and the rear legs by are formed with inwardly and upwardly extendling portions I6 which support the lower ends of inclined rails I'I forming arm supports upon which the arms I8 of the chairare mounted in a manner hereinafter described. The forward ends of said rails are supported by members I9 extending upwardly from the front legs I0.4 .The chair arms 8 are slidably mounted on the supporting rails through longitudinal grooves 20 formed in the opposite sides thereof which reoeive inwardly extending tongues 2I formed on the underside of the chair arms. As a means of securing the arms I8 in adjusted position on their supporting rails, I provide bolts 22 which are secured. to the arms and extend through slots 23 provided in the rails into squared nuts 24 embedded in the arms I8 for clamping the arms and their respective 'supports together. The bolts 22 are provided with fixed heads 25 so that they are positioned underneath the arms so that the bolts may be easily loosened or tightened, as desired.

The chair back comprises side members 26 connected by slats or intermediate bracing members 2'I for supporting a cushion back rest 28. Said side members are pivotally secured to the rear ends of the chair arms I8 as at 28h. The lower ends of the side members 26 are preferably provided with elongated recesses 28a formed in their inner sides, as best shown in Figures 1 and 4. Fixed pins 29 are carried by the rear legs of the chair and extend into the elongated recesses 28w for folding the lower end of the chair back as it is adjusted to various angular positions through the movement of the chair back and arms connected thereto. In the fullline position shown in Fig. l the chair arms are shown at the limit of their rearward adjustment, the bolts 22 having reached the ends of the slots 23 formed in the supporting rails. It will be clear from the drawings how thev inclinatio-n of lthe back may be lessened upon moving the back and chair arms forward, the dotted line posi- .tion showing the arms and back at the extremity of their forward movement and the chair back at its least angle of inclination. Furthermore the elevational positions of the chair arms are the arm ends and extend into slots 33a formed in the side members 30 of the chair back. Upon adjusting the inclination of the lback the pins are moved in the slots thereby causing a corresponding sliding movement of the arms 32 on their supporting rails 33h. It will be understood that in the construction of Figure 6 the supporting rails 33h may be in the form either as shown in Figure 1 and associated figures, or Figure 7 and associated figures. Figure 6 is presented to show an alternate manner of allowing the arms in the back to have a movable pivotal connection instead of the back of the seat having a movable pivotal connection, as in Figures l and 7.

The modified form of my invention shown in Figuresk 7 to 9, inclusive, shows a further means for adjusting the chair arms. I show a chair similar in constructions to the one heretofore described, comprising front and back legs 34 and 35 with a bracing 36 to form a framework for the chair seat. wardly and inwardly extending portions 3I to form supports for the rear ends of the chair arms 38. Supports 39 are secured to the front legs 34 and extend upwardly slightly above the top of the rear supports 31 whereby to support the chair arms on an angle. Arm supporting rails in the form of metal rack bars 40 forming arm supports bridge the front and back supporting member 31 .and 39 on opposite sides of the chair to form supports for the chair arms 38 slidably mounted thereon, and which are provided on their undersides with longitudinal disposed grooves 39a. for receiving said rack bars 40. The rack bars are secured to the chair legs by screws 4I. Removal of the chair arms from the racks is prevented by cross strips 42 and 43 secured to the underside of the arms by screws 44. Adjustment of the chair arms on the racks is accomplished through pawls 45 which are slidably retained in grooves 46 formed in the underside of the arms 38. 4T within said grooves 46 and in back of the pawls serve to .normally urge the pawls into engagement with the teeth 48 of the rack bar 40. One rside of the rack teeth is beveled or curved as at 49 for The rear legs are formed with up- Y .40 Springs permitting the beveled ends of the pawls 45 toN automatically pass thereover when the chairl arms are moved forward. The construction of the rack teeth and engaging end of the pawls are such as to require the normal retraction of said pawls in,

order to permit the rearward adjustment of them' chair arms for increasing the inclination of the chair back. Pins 50 are secured to the pawls 45 and extend through slots 5I in the cross strips 42 for receiving knobs or buttons 52 vby which said pawls can be conveniently manipulated by a peri son seated in the chair whenit is desired to lower the chair back. The chair back is similar in construction to the one heretofore described, comprising side members 53 pivotally connected at 54` to the rear ends of the chair arms 38 and havingI slots or recesses 54 in their lower ends'for receiving guide pins 55 carried by the rear legs 35 of the chair.

From the foregoing it will be seen that I have provided a novel reclining arm chair in which the arms are always maintained at the` same level and in the same relation to the back of the chair because of their slidable movement on the arm operating rails. It will further be apparent that no operating parts will be'visible to a person viewing the chair and the bolt heads 25 and knobs 52 instead of giving the impression of operating parts give the impression of ornamentation.

It will be noted in Figs. 1 and 7 that regardless 75 of the inclination of the back relative to the seat that the point of juncture of the back and the seat will remain substantially constant and the cushions being of soft ilexible material will easily 5 compensate for any angularity in the lower end thereof.

The chair back may be easily and quickly inclined relative to the seat by a person While seated in the chair by merely unscrewing the bolts 22 l which may be right and left hand threaded for convenience of. operating or by operation of the knobs 52 which also may be oppositely disposed and when the back has been adjusted to the desired position the same is easily and quickly l secured in xed position by either screwing the bolts home or releasing the pawl 45.

By providing the rack bar 40 out of a thin metallic strip that is received in the grooves 39a formed in the arms 38 that are preferably made of wood, I reduce to a minimum likelihood of the slidable arms 38 and the arm supporting rails binding upon each other, and which may otherwise occur when both the parts are made of wood, with their likelihood of swelling or contracting due to atmospheric changes or conditions.

It will be seen from the foregoing that the bolts 22, and the cross strips 42, 43 may be removed, and the arms I8 and 38 may then be slid forwardly until removed from the arm supporting rails Il or 48; the back folding forwardly between the arms and becoming detached from its pivotal connection with the seat frame because of the slot and pin connections 28a., 29 or 54', 55, after which the pivotal connections 28 or 54 may be easily disengaged to permit the chair to be collapsed into a compact space for shipping purposes.

It will be seen therefore by the construction of the chair as shown in Figures 1, 6 or 7 that as the arms slide rectilineally and have a pivotal connec- 40 tion to the back that when such back is inclined from an upright position, as shown dotted in Figure 1 and in full lines in Figure 7, to the full line position of Figure 1 or the dotted line position of Figure 7, the lower end of the back must either rise due to its pivot and slot connection through the seat frame or the connection of the arms to the back must yield by a movable pivot as shown in Figure 6.

I claim:

1. A reclining chair comprising a frame, a substantially horizontal arm supporting rail connected with the frame at each side thereof, an arm mounted to slide in a fixed plane on top of each of the supporting rails and a back pivotally and slidably connected at its lower end to the frame and pivotally connected to the arms.

2. A reclining chair comprising a frame, a substantially horizontal arm supporting rail connected with the frame at each side thereof, an arm mounted to slide in a xed plane on top of each of the supporting rails, a back pivotally and slidably connected at its lower end to the frame and pivotally connected to the arms and releasable means for holding the arms in predetermined positions on the rails.

3. A reclining chair comprising a frame including a seat member, a substantially horizontal arm supporting rail connected with the frame at each side thereof and parallel to the seat member, an arm mounted to slide in fixed parallel relation with and on top of each of the supporting rails and a back pivotally and slidably connected at its lower end to the frame and pivotally connected to the arms.

4. A reclining chair comprising a frame including a seat member, a substantially horizontal arm supporting rail connected with the frame at each side thereof and parallel to the seat member, an arm mounted to slide in xed parallel relation with and on top of each of the supporting rails, a back pivotally and slidably connected at its lower end to the frame and pivotally connected to the arms and releasable means for holding the arms in predetermined positions on the rails.

DAVID SALTMAN. 

